Polio vaccination campaign: Teams call off boycott after colleague’s son returns home
Asifa Asad had alleged that he had been kidnapped because of the campaign۔
KARACHI:
When 12-year-old Zainul Abideen, who had been missing since Friday night, returned home on Sunday, he unknowingly saved around 5,800 children from the polio virus. The vaccination teams of Gulberg town had threatened to boycott their duties after his mother alleged that he had been kidnapped.
The prospects for the three-day polio campaign in Gulberg town looked dim just a day before it was set to begin. Asifa Asad, a vaccinator who is in-charge of the campaign for UC-8, created a ruckus on Saturday at the campaign’s inauguration, at which health minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed was also present. She claimed that her son, Zainul Abideen, had been abducted because she was involved with the campaign. She claimed that the boy had vanished from the neighbourhood on Friday night when he stepped out to buy bread.
Asifa added that since she took charge, she had been threatened by people who believe the campaign is a ploy created by foreign intelligence agencies to glean information from households. All of the area’s vaccination teams announced they would boycott the campaign to support her - an action which would have affected 5,800 children.
However, her son returned home late Sunday night. The police claimed that the boy ran away from home because his uncle used to beat him and came back on his own. “It was nothing but a drama,” said SHO Sajid Javed. “When we asked [Asifa] how her son had returned home, she made up a story, saying that she found him in front of a stall at Al-Asif square.”
Asifa was not available for comment. Gulberg’s Town Health Officer (THO), Dr Shahnaz, said that Asifa was with her and Zainul Abideen was doing well. Asad told the THO that a man had asked her son to carry bread for him. The boy agreed and the man lured him to a spot where others were waiting to kidnap him. The captors released him after a day.
Dr Shahnaz, however, said that it seems to her as if the boy’s disappearance was caused by family problems. “If [the boy] was kidnapped, he wouldn’t have been set free like that.” She told The Express Tribune that as soon as the workers learned of this, they decided to call off their protest and started the campaign. Asad has been asked to take some time off.
Dr Shahnaz said that Gulberg town is relatively peaceful and the campaigners only had security concerns about block 22 of UC-8.
The health minister has sought an inquiry into the matter. Dr Elias Durry, the chief coordinator for the World Health Organisation’s polio eradication efforts in Pakistan, was not happy with the fact that the campaign had been dragged into the equation. “Such incidents are highly condemnable. We must check the accuracy of facts before raising a hue and cry because such statements have the capacity to fall heavy on the morale of thousands of vaccinators in the country. [The statements] can also discourage people from having their children vaccinated.”
About 21, 342 vaccinators and volunteers will take part in the three-day polio campaign began on Monday.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2012.
When 12-year-old Zainul Abideen, who had been missing since Friday night, returned home on Sunday, he unknowingly saved around 5,800 children from the polio virus. The vaccination teams of Gulberg town had threatened to boycott their duties after his mother alleged that he had been kidnapped.
The prospects for the three-day polio campaign in Gulberg town looked dim just a day before it was set to begin. Asifa Asad, a vaccinator who is in-charge of the campaign for UC-8, created a ruckus on Saturday at the campaign’s inauguration, at which health minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed was also present. She claimed that her son, Zainul Abideen, had been abducted because she was involved with the campaign. She claimed that the boy had vanished from the neighbourhood on Friday night when he stepped out to buy bread.
Asifa added that since she took charge, she had been threatened by people who believe the campaign is a ploy created by foreign intelligence agencies to glean information from households. All of the area’s vaccination teams announced they would boycott the campaign to support her - an action which would have affected 5,800 children.
However, her son returned home late Sunday night. The police claimed that the boy ran away from home because his uncle used to beat him and came back on his own. “It was nothing but a drama,” said SHO Sajid Javed. “When we asked [Asifa] how her son had returned home, she made up a story, saying that she found him in front of a stall at Al-Asif square.”
Asifa was not available for comment. Gulberg’s Town Health Officer (THO), Dr Shahnaz, said that Asifa was with her and Zainul Abideen was doing well. Asad told the THO that a man had asked her son to carry bread for him. The boy agreed and the man lured him to a spot where others were waiting to kidnap him. The captors released him after a day.
Dr Shahnaz, however, said that it seems to her as if the boy’s disappearance was caused by family problems. “If [the boy] was kidnapped, he wouldn’t have been set free like that.” She told The Express Tribune that as soon as the workers learned of this, they decided to call off their protest and started the campaign. Asad has been asked to take some time off.
Dr Shahnaz said that Gulberg town is relatively peaceful and the campaigners only had security concerns about block 22 of UC-8.
The health minister has sought an inquiry into the matter. Dr Elias Durry, the chief coordinator for the World Health Organisation’s polio eradication efforts in Pakistan, was not happy with the fact that the campaign had been dragged into the equation. “Such incidents are highly condemnable. We must check the accuracy of facts before raising a hue and cry because such statements have the capacity to fall heavy on the morale of thousands of vaccinators in the country. [The statements] can also discourage people from having their children vaccinated.”
About 21, 342 vaccinators and volunteers will take part in the three-day polio campaign began on Monday.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 17th, 2012.